Dark Worlds
by Cat le Fleur
Summary: When a decision is made, no matter how big or small, a world is born where another took place. What if Graystripe ate a mouse instead of a squirrel? What if Hollyleaf was the fourth rather than Firestar? This is true for even the worst decisions, which spawn twisted and nightmarish worlds. These are glimpses into these horrific places (oneshot series)
1. The Firestarter - Down With The Sickness

**GET DOWN WITH THE SICKNESS**

 _"Looking at my own reflection,_

 _When suddenly it changes,_

 _Violently it changes,_

 _There is no turning back now,_

 _You've woken up the demon in me!"_

His face was in the cold dirt. In fact, it wasn't cold. It was warm and wet, not cold and dry. The taste in his mouth wasn't grimy dirt, it was iron. Blood. Whose blood was it? His? Someone else's? He didn't know.

Graystripe weakly lifted his face from the puddle of blood, allowing it to stain his fur. He could hear the awful sounds of calamity and discord ringing in his ears; cats yowling and screaming; the barking of dogs; blood spilling and flesh tearing.

Everything had been a blur. They had been taken by surprise in the dead of night. There was no warning, no cries for battle before the fight. Who had done it? Tigerclaw? But he had been exiled and the dogs he used had been killed.

There were unfamiliar and horrid scents in the air; death, bloods, dogs, rouges. Rouges. So this was not Tigerclaw's doing. He would never work with any cat without Clan blood in their veins. It was a smart and vicious group of rogues.

Graystripe saw, out of the corner of his eye, Whitestorm fending off one of the rouges. A stand out feature of the rogues were the bands around their neck. Normally, those were a sign of the cat being a kittypet, the property of twolegs. But here it showed how savage they were with the teeth of StarClan knows what protruding from said bands, like trophies.

The rouge's savagery was no match for Whitestorm's training and they were quickly defeated. The senior warrior rushed over to him, "Graystripe!" he yowled, helping him to his paws. "Thank StarClan you're alright, I'm not sure how many of us are left!" he exclaimed.

Graystripe's heart sank into his stomach, weighed down by his feelings of hopelessness. "Wuh-what?" he sputtered, "how?"

"The dogs, Graystripe! He's using the dogs!" cried the senior warrior. He frantically looked around, eyes widening as his eyes fell on the corpses of friends and family. He turned back to the younger warrior, "we have to get rid of the dogs! We won't survive if he keeps using them!"

The ThunderClan tom needed Whitestorm to calm down from his hysterical state. Yes, the situation was terrible - and the senior warrior's anxiety was beginning to affect him - but they were to panic then they would die. A shriek of agony pierced his ears along with the growls of a dog. He had to ignore it, no matter how intense the desire to aid the cat was. They were gone now. "Who, Whitestorm?" demanded Graystripe, "who are you talking about?!"

"That would be me." a voice responded. It made both warriors shiver, sending chills down their spines. While it was calm and collected, it was dripping with malice. Somehow, Graystripe felt like he knew this cat - or that he was supposed to. Their voice felt perverted to him, a dark parody of what it was meant to be.

Both toms faced the cat the voice belonged to. The owner of the voice was tall with a fit build. Like the majority of the rogues, he was skinny. But he was not sickly thin unlike most, rather he was healthy. The tom had a dark, flame-coloured pelt and dark tabby stripes. His muzzle, throat, and belly were a pale ginger. His green eyes held the same animosity his voice did.

One thing stood out about this cat; the dog teeth did not jut out from a band around his neck - but rather his flesh. At first glance it seemed as if he was some monster posing as a cat, but wounds around the areas the teeth resided showed that wasn't the case. Still it made Graystripe queasy to look. Was that self-inflicted?

"Let's get acquainted, shall we boys?" the nefarious tom smiled. Again, the gray cat shivered. He felt helpless before this cat, like a fly trapped in a spider's web. This spider was mocking him with his mannerisms. "My name's The Firestarter. I'm here to take what's yours,"

"If you think you can kill ThunderClan, you're sorely mistaken," growled Whitestorm.

The Firestarter gave a curt roll of the eyes, like he was talking to a kit who couldn't fully grasp what he was saying. "You'll find I already have. Look around-" the tom spoke, his condescending tone grating on the white cat's nerves, "-does this look like a Clan that's winning?"

The cat looked around, surveying the destruction. "what I see is a Clan on its last legs. You have no leader, you have no deputy, and you have no medicine cat. Maybe that's because they're in dog stomachs. Or a vomit pile. My poor dogs have trouble with chunky food," he chuckled.

Whitestorm growled, his teeth bared in rage. Graystripe was unable to prevent him from darting towards the rouge. "Monster!" he bellowed. The senior warrior was intercepted by a dog, it's jaws closing around his throat. Neither Whitestorm nor Graystripe had time to react before the canine was viciously mauling him.

"Drop, boy." The Firestarter meowed. At his words, the dog dropped Whitestorm. His neck now greatly contrasted from his fur, a deep shade of crimson compared to the pristine white fur. Whitestorm only took shallow breaths, his eyes were fixed on the tom before him and full of rage.

The ginger cat crouched beside him, "did you have some attachments to them, hm?" he inquired, "you have eyes like your leader. Not the same colour, obviously, but-" The senior warrior spat in The Firestarter's face. "That's rude." the tom growled. "Get 'im, boy." on his command, the dog gripped the dying cat in his jaws and walked off.

"No!" roared Graystripe. He bowled The Firestarter over, the tom grunted as his neck sat awkwardly against the ground, the dog teeth in his collar propping him up painfully. The ginger cat shoved him off. "Why us!? If it's territory you're after ShadowClan's is twice as big!" demanded the gray tom.

"This isn't just about territory, I told my Clan that - a little white lie wouldn't hurt them. If it was I would be over there right now. Want to know what this is really all about?" The Firestarter sneered. As the warrior attempted come for him again he dodged, raking his claws down the cat's side and making him topple over. "It's about absurdity,"

Graystripe glowered from his position in the dirt. This cat had proven himself to be completely unhinged. What kind of reasoning was 'absurdity' for slaughtering his Clan? "Shut up!" he spat. He pounced on the ginger cat. Both cats stood on their hind legs, locked in a struggle for dominance.

"You don't get it, do you?" The Firestarter grunted, attempting to overpower the warrior in their struggle. "For ThunderClan, this whole genocide just happened, didn't it? You got no warning, it just happened. No reason, either." the ginger cat finally managed overpower him, throwing him to the ground. "Would you call it absurd? I would,"

Graystripe swiftly recovered, "are you trying to talk me to death?" he then leaped at the tom.

"Actually-" The Firestarter mewed, letting the warrior pin him down just to throw him over him with his hind legs, "-I was trying beating you to death." he hissed. "But I want you to understand something first. I came here as a kit cause I was curious about the big bad wild cats and I met one called Darkstripe,"

The ThunderClan cat haphazardly got back to his paws, "so what? You got chased out and now you're angry? Give me a break," he snarled. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see his clanmates defending the nursery. And another dog with half its body in the elder's den.

Dear StarClan.

"Angry? I'm furious!" The Firestarter exclaimed, "I think you'd be too if you were mauled to near death." he spat, "I was in the wrong place at the wrong time and I nearly died because of that. I could barely process what happened, it was all so sudden and confusing. I bet that's how you feel right now, isn't it?

"Shut up!" Graystripe screeched, slashing across The Firestarter's neck. Dog teeth went flying in response as the ginger tom stumbled back with his neck craned back. The ThunderClan warrior mentally cheered. The nightmare was over. His Clan had won!

The cat's neck returned to its regular position and Graystripe found his feeling of triumph dying. "That was close. Thank goodness for my collar," The Firestarter grinned. The tom could see clearly now that the dog teeth weren't digging into his flesh, like he first thought, instead they were part of a raggedy old green collar.

"Now that-" the ginger tom purred, removing the remains of his tattered collar, "-that's liberating." he purred. Without his collar, a sickly wound underneath was revealed. In some areas was tender, inflamed flesh leaking pus. Others were ugly scabs and scars. "I couldn't get it off as kit with a dog tooth, it got stuck in. I added more because it was intimidating. It helped when I started outgrowing it too. But it was so sore. It actually kept me up at night,"

"Do you ever stop talking!?" Graystripe swiped at The Firestarter. He was hoping to slit open his now vulnerable throat, instead the tom caught him in the shoulder as he moved. The ginger cat grunted in response.

The Firestarter landed a vicious blow to the side of the warrior's head. "I am now." the tom replied. He distanced himself from the downed Graystripe, "why? Because I've won. You're the only surviving cat from ThunderClan." he spoke.

The warrior looked around, finding that he was surrounded by the rouges and their dogs. All were bloody, covered in their own and that of his Clan's; claws, paws, faces, muzzles, legs. It was everywhere. On everyone.

ThunderClan was dead.

The leader looked upon Graystripe with pity, even if it was only a sliver. "You're a strong warrior. I could use a cat like you, so how about you become one of us?" The Firestarter proposed, "join BloodClan."

Graystripe despite the numbness inside him, the hopelessness and the despair, felt cold rage inside him like a wild storm. Glaring, he responded, "over my dead body."

"That can be arranged." The Firestarter grinned. BloodClan began closing in on the surviving warrior, then pounced. Graystripe did not resist or cry out as he was torn apart, his blood seeping in to the dirt where he stood and staining the cats who killed him.

The Firestarter watched as his Clan pulled back, revealing the bloody butchered corpse of the last warrior. ThunderClan was no more. No warriors, no apprentices, no queens, no kits, nothing. He let loose a caterwaul of victory, soon joined by the rest of his clan and the howls of his mutts.

Blood would rule this forest.

* * *

 **So this was the first in a (hopefully) long series of oneshots set in dark alternate universes.**

 **This was probably the bloodiest (no pun intended) of the bunch I have planned and, in my own opinion, a pretty common AU though it's usually swapping Scourge and Firestar's places. Seriously, there's fanart that's how popular it is.**

 **Speaking of which, where is Scourge in this AU? I don't know, do you? Honestly, there's not a right answer for that question, whatever you think happened to him happened to him because, hey, it's an AU think whatever you want.**

 **Now the next oneshot planned is The Lighteater: Fear of The Dark. What's it about? Feel free to speculate.**

 **Until next time.**


	2. The Lighteater - Fear of The Dark

**FEAR OF THE DARK**

 _"Have you run your fingers down the wall,_

 _And have you felt your neck skin crawl,_

 _When you're searching for the light?_

 _Sometimes when you're scared to take a look,_

 _At the corner of the room,_

 _You've sensed that something's watching you."_

Darkness. That's all there was down here. A vast expanse of endless black, stretching in all directions. All light had been swallowed. With no light, there was no heat either. It was so unbearably cold down here, yet he had grown accustomed to its biting chill.

He had to twist and turn amongst the gnarled and twisted trees, their low-hanging branches like boney talons reaching low to the ground. As if an owl was swooping in low to snatch him up and carry him off.

Dark gray paws silently treaded along the damp, cold dirt underneath. Scornful amber eyes scanned his surroundings. Darkstripe felt oddly at home slithering around in the shadows of this dark forest. Everything just seemed to fit; his name and his pelt and this place. It was like he was meant to be here.

If that was the case, Darkstripe would like to rake his claws down whoever planned for him to be here. While he felt strangely like he belonged here - the Dark Forest was driving him crazy. He was isolated. There was no way to track time. The last cat he met was Tigerstar by sheer chance, and that could have been anywhere from minutes ago to moons ago.

Tigerstar. That name spurred on many emotions in Darkstripe; longing, respect, fear, hope, love, and hate. The tom he had been so loyal to, becoming his shadow, had abandoned him. Tossed him aside like he was rotting crowfood.

"In the Dark Forest, cats are meant walk alone." is what he had said. In life, Darkstripe had both received and inflicted pain. Severe and minor. But the cat he followed so closely? Damning him to an afterlife of isolation? That killed him inside.

Darkstripe slinked on, "I'll show you, Tigerstar." he murmured bitterly. The dark tabby viewed him as a zealous acolyte, nothing more or nothing less. A weakling taking refuge in his strength. He felt used. "You think I'm weak, don't you? Well, I'll show you how strong I am."

Nothing made his blood run cold quite like being called weak. After all, being weak was a death sentence for a warrior. That's why the company he kept were the greatest of ThunderClan's warriors. It was why he detested Firestar from when he first saw him, his kittypet roots made him pathetically weak. He had tainted his Clan with his impure blood and made it, and everyone in it, weak.

Weakness could not survive in the Clans, and neither could the cats who were. Strength was everything. He would thrive here. He would quell the hunger in his stomach, the freezing in his bones. The tom would make it all disappear because he was not weak. He was strong. A fierce warrior to be feared by all.

The Cold and his hunger would weaken him, so he had to eliminate those threats as soon as possible. But how? Trying to find the edge of the Dark Forest seemed like a good idea. Perhaps it bordered StarClan, then it was likely that warmth was to be found. Perhaps some plump prey may venture into the dark and his awaiting jaws. The thought made his mouth water.

And his stomach snarled impatiently.

Darkstripe briskly turned around, heading in the direction he thought that StarClan would be. Doubt gnawed at his mind, remembering how Tigerstar spoke of being unable to really go anywhere. He said the Dark Forest was endless. But that couldn't be true, there's no way a forest went on indefinitely.

So he walked.

And he walked.

He then crawled.

He gave up.

The tabby layed curled up in a tight ball on the ground. His stomach was actually causing him physical pain now, begging to filled with meat. He couldn't feel anything anymore, the cold numbing him and taking his sense of touch. Darkstripe longed for death, but he was already dead.

Weakness was going to end him. It was humiliating. He, one of the fiercest warriors ThunderClan had ever been graced with, was going to die from an empty stomach? No wonder Tigerstar looked down on him with contempt.

The sound of rustling and a cat muttering curses to himself fell on his ears. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a large and muscular cat. With a broad face, shoulders, a squalid white pelt, and an array of scars. His tail was especially scarred, looking as if it belonged on a rat rather than a cat.

Darkstripe stayed completely still and unmoving. He didn't need to breathe, either, on the account that he was merely a spectre. To anyone else, he seemed dead. The cat approached him, his rancid breath hot against his fur.

"You'll do me a good, long while." he muttered hungrily. In that moment, Darkstripe had an epiphany. There was nothing to eat down here - except cats. The dark tabby suddenly sprang up, taking the other cat aback. He sank his teeth into his throat, feeling warmth flood his mouth. Oh, how long had it been since he felt warm? A day? A moon? A year? He didn't know, but he didn't care. Then, he ripped out the cat's throat.

Darkstripe watch coldly as the cat fell backwards, gagging and choking on his own blood. Once he was sure he was lifeless, he licked at his maw clean of blood. The tom couldn't let any warmth go to waste.

"You'll do me a good, long while." Darkstripe sneered, opening his maw and letting his ravenous hunger take control. It was pure bliss to feel full again, to feel warm again. But he knew that it was only temporary.

So he would hunt.

And hunt he did.

Other cats became nothing more than mice and squirrels for him, just another food source. One that was scarce, but when he found it he would stay full and warm for days. Though his travels revealed to him some horrible sights.

The further one travelled into the Dark Forest, it became so much darker - near impossible to see. Creatures became a common sight, too. Entities that stalked cats in the shadows, just like he did. They were so hard to describe, he was unable to fully comprehend what he saw. But what he did know was that they were nightmarish masses of blackness, teeth, and claws, with beady white eyes.

They attacked any cat on sight for daring to enter their dark domain, ripping them to sheds and disembowelling them. Yet they completely ignored Darkstripe as if he was one of them. The tom never understood why, until he once again ran into Tigerstar.

Again, emotions ran wild in the deceased ThunderClan cat; joy, longing, fear, anger, love. "Tigerstar!" he cried out in greeting, "h-how long has it been?" Darkstripe inquired, almost purring. Part of him felt ashamed that he wasn't criticising Tigerstar for abandoning him. But at the same time, he wouldn't have been able to learn how to thrive down here. He was shown how to be strong.

The former ShadowClan leader sized him up, "Darkstripe, it's been a long time. You look different,"

The tom raised an eyebrow, "how so?"

"Your eyes, for one." Tigerstar responded, "your sclera is black, not white. There's something. . .off about you," he partly wanted to mention how the darkness seemed to thicken around him, like he was more Dark Forest than cat. But that was surely his imagination. His voice, too, sounded different.

Darkstripe frowned, feeling perplexed by this revelation. What could cause such a thing? "Well, anyways. I think we should stick together, I can-"

"-I told you before, cats are meant to walk alone in the Dark Forest." interrupted Tigerstar, moving past Darkstripe.

The dark tabby leered, "you think I'm weak, don't you?" he spat.

The tom only glanced back briefly, "so you finally get it, Darkstripe. You were always weak, you couldn't even kill a kit." he responded bitterly, "you cling to me like the scared little kit you are,"

Darkstripe ignored the stinging in his heart, instead focusing on the anger brewing within. "Y-you can't abandon me again!" he protested.

"I just did." Tigerstar responded, this time not even glancing back towards the other cat.

Those three words and his callous tone killed Darkstripe inside a second time. He wasn't good enough for the tabby once again, and he would be left isolated for a second time. He couldn't bear it. He wouldn't stand for it. Not matter how great his respect was for Tigerstar - he could not and would not accept being called weak. To be placed on the same level as that damned kittypet made a wild storm of outrage stir within him.

Darkstripe would show Tigerstar just how wrong he was.

The tom knew just how to do it. Every fibre of his being was screaming at him, begging him to find StarClan. It was almost as if it was instinct, like he was getting ready to pounce on a mouse. So that's what he did.

Darkstripe headed north, his destination being StarClan. How did he know that it was this direction? He had already walked in this direction before a while ago -or was it years ago?- and it had taken him nowhere. Like the darkness around him, this forest stretched out to infinity.

Or it used to.

Only minutes later he found himself at the edge of the Dark Forest. His brow furrowed in confusion. None of this made sense; a different appearance, suddenly knowing which way StarClan lay and actually having the gull to go there, and now the Dark Forest was retracting? Was it all linked? Had he gone mad and, in his delusions, began having hallucinations?

Darkstripe got his answer when he stepped out of the dark and into the light. It was a blessing to feel grass tickle his paw pads again. It was amazing to feel the warmth of a green-leaf day. The sky above was the epitome of beauty, full of dazzling stars and bizarre (yet gorgeous) clouds. In fact, everything looked as if it was made of stars and held a blue hint to it. It was like something he could only dream of.

If only Tigerstar was here to share it with him.

But he then notice something about the ground around him. It was growing darker. Darkstripe looked down, discovering the ground was twisting and morphing into the cold, dead ground of the Dark Forest. The darkness spread itself, like blood in water.

It all clicked together in that moment. The different appearance, knowing where StarClan was, the forest seemingly shrinking. Darkstripe hadn't kept track of the amount of cats he had preyed upon, but consuming them had done something to him. It was as if there was a little piece of the Dark Forest inside every cat that resided within it, and as he consumed them it all collected inside him until he was more Dark Forest than cat.

It explained why the urge to come to StarClan was so potent. That part of him wanted to spread, to expand. Only Darkstripe was strong enough to do such a thing. No one else; for they were all weak and feeble.

So he would spread the dark, swallow up the light and snuff it out. With each paw step a new part of StarClan became corrupted and began spreading. This continued for hours as Darkstripe merely strolled along, leaving vast blackness in his wake.

"Darkstripe!" a voice suddenly yowled. In response, he swivelled around to face them. The tabby saw both familiar and unfamiliar faces. His eyes were fixed on the cat who called his name. Bluestar.

She was the youngest he had ever seen her, powerful but not masculine. The she-cat's gaze was cold and angered. "This has gone on for long enough!" the old ThunderClan leader spat. Her voice, too, held the same power her presence did but it added wisdom and courage into the mix.

Bluestar had been a strong leader, in Darkstripe's eyes, until she allowed the kittypet to join their ranks. Thanks to her ThunderClan -his Clan- had been forever polluted. He was only here to return the favour. He sneered, "not by a long shot. This isn't over until you're all wallowing in the dark and freezing to your bones." he could feel something swirling and twisting in his mouth, and it certainly wasn't saliva.

"Just. Like. Me!" he roared. At first, little droplets of blackness trickled from his mouth and off of his chin, but after his final word it spilled from his mouth like a flash flood. A wave made entirely of the void.

It swallowed up every cat present as they yowled in fear and surprise and all the light surround them. It wasn't like the darkness found deep in the heart of the Dark Forest. No, this was pure darkness. A complete absence of light. For it had been devoured.

"I-is everybody okay?" called a shaken Bluestar, frantically scanning her surroundings - or lack there of.

"I'm fine. But I can't see a thing! What did he do?!" a voice responded.

Another voice chimed in, "we have to find a way out! Just run-"

The sound of tearing flesh ripped through the dark.

"Lionheart?! Lionheart are you-" the voice let loose a gargled cry before dying off. Suddenly, an unholy symphony of screams and tearing flesh and sickening crunches exploded through the darkness.

Bluestar could only yowl frantically, twisting and turning in all directions to find a way out. But how could she? Which way was she even facing? Was she even in StarClan anymore? She began to shake and valiantly attempted to stop herself from hyperventilating. This darkness was choking her. It was claustrophobic. She needed out.

"You're not the only who brought their friends, Bluestar." Darkstripe called out. Suddenly, he emerged from nothing, the blackness peeling off of him like a second skin. Part of his upper lip was now missing, which revealed his rancid teeth underneath. "I left you for last,"

Bluestar tried to tune out the song of carnage around her. She hissed fiercely, "I will fight to my last breath, Darkstripe!"

The tom snorted, "you really think I would ever give you a warrior's death? You don't deserve one. You destroyed ThunderClan when you let Firestar join our ranks!" the sounds of slaughter suddenly ceased. "I wanted you to see what you've done. If it weren't for you none of this would have happened! You doomed StarClan!"

"I did no such thing," the she-cat spat.

"It seems when you went senile it stuck." Darkstripe scoffed, "I just have one thing to ask, Bluestar; are you afraid of the dark?"

Bluestar bared her teeth, "no."

"You're about to be." he smirked. Roars resonated through the void as the horrors spawned from the Dark Forest pounced on Bluestar, picking her apart like a disturbed cat would a mouse. Darkstripe left the void, entering back into what was left of StarClan.

The void began spewing from his maw again, suffocating anything and everything around it. He could hear the squealing of horrors as they were birthed from the blackness. Darkstripe wanted everyone to feel how he had; cold, afriad, outraged, hungry, outcasted, helpless, hopeless.

"Do you see how strong I am now, Tigerstar?!" Darkstripe cried out, "this was all for you!" He exclaimed.

Everyone would be as he had when Tigerstar abandoned him; alone and afraid in the dark.

* * *

 **Aaaand that was The Lighteater: Fear of The Dark! This was actually a really good chance to build up on Darkstripe's character and give him the spotlight (more like the blacklight huehuehue) and also add a little to the Dark Forest. It's so underdeveloped it hurts me, really. So I added eldritch horrors in there because, hey, practically no development means I can do whatever the hell I want.**

 **The ending is heavily inspired by Batman: The Dawnbreaker's ending (which I would so recommend reading because it's partly the reason Dark Worlds exists)**

 **The next oneshot is The Merciless: Battery, go speculate on what that is if ya feel like.**


	3. The Merciless - Battery

**BATTERY**

 _"Smashing through the boundaries,_

 _Lunacy has found me,_

 _Cannot stop the battery,_

 _Pounding out aggression,_

 _Turns into obsession,_

 _Cannot kill the battery,"_

It was silent. Tranquil, even. There was not a single unnatural sound mixing with what was supposed to be normal. A new-leaf breeze rolled throughout the moors and forests, rustling leaves and grass as it went. Woodland creatures skittered about, in search of food and other such things. The silver scales of fish glinted through the surface of the rivers, like living collections of stars. In the shaded pines, all was quiet. Not a single cat made a sound.

That was because there was only one living cat left, perched on the highrock that once belonged to ThunderClan and brooding. The cat was an old tom, but he was as fit and healthy as when he was young. His aged body still rippled with powerful muscle, with broad shoulders and strong paws. The tom's pelt was golden-brown with tabby stripes. His muzzle and chin were gray with age. His amber eyes were like smouldering fires, though they held a distant, glazed look.

His name was Lionblaze. Despite being the Clan leader, he had kept his warrrior name - for what use was being called Lionstar when there was nobody to recognise his rank?

There was no one left; no one left to commandeer, no one left to fight. Nothing left for him to do save for being alone with his thoughts. Save for him when he arrived at irregular periods of time. Lionblaze could sense him now.

Behind him, at the mouth of the den where the ThunderClan leader would have slept, a spectre materialised. At first, his ghostly image was barely visible before rapidly becoming more and more tangible. The poltergeist was a large, dark brown tabby tom with powerful paws and broad shoulders. His body was decorated in old scars.

The ghost of Tigerstar stood, looming in the shadows created by the old den. "Lionblaze." he greeted.

Lionblaze was brought back to reality, "Tigerstar." he greeted with a gruff tone. The old cat didn't turn to face his leader. Instead, he continued to overlook the remains of ThunderClan.

"You seem preoccupied." commented the poltergeist, his amber eyes boring a hole into the back of the living tom before him, "what is on your mind?"

Finally, Lionblaze turned towards Tigerstar. His eyes were no longer glazed over and unfocused - instead, they were the hardened eyes of a warrior who had fought countless battles and showed no mercy to even the most meek of cats. They were eyes of the merciless.

"Our victory." responded Lionblaze curtly, thinking back to that day.

 **...**

As Heathertail padded through ThunderClan territory, accompanied by other warriors, she noted how oddly quiet everything was. There was no wind rustling through the leaves, there were no sounds of birds chirping. Nothing. It was dead silence throughout the forest.

It was like everything that called this place home abandoned it suddenly.

"Is it always this quiet on ThunderClan territory?" Crowfeather, another member of the WindClan patrol, grumbled.

"I doubt it." responded Harestripe, both the deputy of WindClan and the leader of this patrol, "let's just find out why ThunderClan never showed up to the gathering and leave. This is starting to rub me the wrong way."

Heathertail agreed. It had been a concerning turn of events when ThunderClan hadn't appeared for the gathering. To be late was a normal occurrence, after all, some things were out of the control of the cats attending. Perhaps the regular route for that Clan was impossible to navigate at that point in time, or they had to slow down for an older warrior. But to not show up at all? It was completely unheard of.

Something was wrong with ThunderClan. Surprisingly, Onestar was the only one who wanted to see what the situation was with ThunderClan while Leopardstar and Blackstar dismissed their lack of attendance as Firestar being a mousebrain. Truthfully, it seemed as if the WindClan leader wanted to know for certain to chew him out at the next gathering - with an audience as large as possible.

"See if Firestar actually forgot the gathering was happening, ThunderClan's going to be a complete laughingstock." sneered Ashfoot.

Crowfeather responded, "They were just recruiting all the kittypets is all." that got a few meows of humour out of the patrol.

The WindClan patrol were soon outside of the thorny barrier of ThunderClan. Then it hit them. That rancid, disgusting scent. The reek of decay and death violated their nostrils and was so potent they could practically taste it's squalidity. They each broke in fits of coughing and hacking, their eyes watering.

"Dear StarClan - that stench!" gagged Heathertail. Despite how repulsed she was, she needed to make sure he was okay; Lionblaze. Her good friend from ThunderClan - her best friend. Well, her former best friend.

When they were apprentices, they had met in the tunnels snaking underneath the earth of WindClan's territory. They used to play together, having make-belief adventures as the leaders of their own Clan. Despite her current disgust, she couldn't help but smile a little at the memories.

But it all came to an end when some kits ventured into the tunnels, once they were found they told the warriors who found them where they had been. As a result, WindClan began using those tunnels. Lionblaze, Lionpaw at the time, accused her of telling WindClan of the tunnels and began pushing her further and further away. He wouldn't believe that some kit just waltzed into the tunnels despite it being truth.

Heathertail, Heatherpaw at the time, hated him for him. Her best friend refused to believe her and began treating her like an enemy. The she-cat, understandably, became spiteful towards him and his Clan. But as she matured her feelings mellowed and Heathertail's agenda now was to mend their relationship. She wanted her friend back.

But the twisting feeling of anxiety told her that she was too little too late.

The WindClan patrol crawled underneath the thorn barrier. Grumbling as it pricked at their pelt uncomfortably. On the other side, they were shocked and horrified by the gruesome scene before them.

It was a bloodbath. Corpses of ThunderClan cats were mangled and strewn about, their scents mingling with the rancid stink of decay. Grooves in the ground were made by claws and dried blood stained the earth. Some cats she could recognise, others were beyond recognition. Heathertail gasped, raked with fear. What could have done this? What could have decimated an entire Clan?

"Dear StarClan..." sobbed Crowfeather, his eyes wide. Despite his attempts to hide it, the she-cat could see him shaking. Whether that was from primal fear, rage, or something else entirely, was beyond her knowledge.

"We need to-" Ashfoot gagged as she let out a petrified weep, "-we have to tell Onestar."

"You can tell him my message." A voice responded. Heathertail recognised it immediately, her eyes widening. _'No, he didn't. He couldn't have - this was his Clan!'_ she lamented. "Tell him he's got one day to resign from his position as leader."

All of the WindClan cats looked up towards where the voice was coming from, the high rock. There stood Lionblaze, his eyes scrutinising them all. Those eyes shook Heathertail to her core.

One would think that his eyes would be glinting with some kind of horrific glee as his handiwork had been found. But they were devoid of such disturbing pleasure. It was like someone had found a mouse he just killed. Lionblaze was completely devoid of any guilt, or pleasure, or pride. It was as if he had just hunted and ThunderClan's remains were only a large haul of prey. That's all they were to him.

"You did this?!" Crowfeather shouted in outrage, glaring with the most spiteful gaze Heathertail had ever seen. But there was still fear behind the hate. Nobody could blame him for being afraid, but Crowfeather had pride. Pride that would prevent him from keeping his head low and listening to the monster looking down on them.

Lionblaze glanced downwards, "I did." again, there was no pride or malice. It was as if there were not standing amongst a mass grave.

"Why?!" demanded Ashfoot, her fear and rage mingling together in her voice.

"For a long time I've been meeting with Tigerstar in the Dark Forest, he wanted to make me a better warrior and I accepted. He gave me some valuable life lessons too, which I tried to pass on to my Clan. They didn't understand what Tigerstar had taught me. He taught me mercy is weakness; each Clan has had chance after chance to put each other down but we _never_ take the chance to - and what happens? Cats like Brokenstar happen. Cats like Tigerstar happen. Cats like Sol happen." Heathertail swore she saw something vaguely in the shape of a cat leaning over the tom's shoulder, "all the problems we've ever had we could have been avoided if we weren't merciful,"

"So you massacred your own Clan to prove that?" glowered Crowfeather.

"Are they a threat to you anymore?" inquired Lionblaze, "I don't think so. Now listen up; tell Onestar WindClan is ours and he better recognise it." he meowed, jumping down from the high rock and landing before the smokey grey cat, looming over him. Subsequently, something was leaning over Lionblaze's shoulder. "Or you'll all be joining ThunderClan." he threatened "If nobody can run a Clan right, then there won't be any Clans. Tigerstar tried to make peace by ruling all four, now we're getting rid of them altogether,"

The she-cat looked towards Ashfoot for guidance, to see what she thought was necessary to do. But she was just as terrified Crowfeather was. Crowfeather hissed, "you're dead, you hear?" he spat, "I'll-"

The smokey grey cat was cut off. Lionblaze's paw had smacked him on the side of the head, sounding off with a sickening crack. Heathertail watched in horror and disgust as Crowfeather's head violently spasmed from the force as his body fell.

"This was your message." Lionblaze meowed, suggesting towards the remains of ThunderClan. "He's WindClan's. You've got one day."

 **...**

Heathertail stood in the line of WindClan warriors facing the border of ThunderClan. Onestar had refused to abdicate from his position, opting to clash with the cat who had so mercilessly slaughtered his own Clan head on. His call to battle had been met with yowls of approval, though some were reluctant and rightfully so. After all, a whole Clan and one of their own had perished.

Despite the rivalry between ThunderClan and WindClan, many cats wanted justice and to feel the blood of a monster seep through their claws. It seemed like victory was guaranteed. After all, it was one cat against the might of a Clan. However, this cat had already faced such opposition before.

But ThunderClan had been unprepared and taken by surprise, argued Onestar and other WindClan warriors. Their Clan would not share ThunderClan's dreaded fate. It reassured many, but Heathertail still felt that Onestar should have stepped down and saved WindClan.

Two WindClan warriors had been sent each to ShadowClan and RiverClan, so the plan was to distract Lionblaze (if they could not kill him) until the remaining two Clans arrived. Then, victory would surrender itself to them.

The tabby she-cat turned to Ashfoot who was, fortunately, at her side. "This was a mistake." she murmured in terror, "Onestar should have stepped down when he had the chance,"

The older grey she-cat gave her a lick on the cheek for comfort, "Onestar is right, though. ThunderClan had been taken by surprise. We're ready for him. StarClan is watching over us, all will be well." she assured.

The warrior's began to hiss, the last cat of ThunderClan approaching them with a dark expression. Heathertail quivered under his gaze. She wanted nothing more than to turn around and get as far away as her legs to carry her. She wanted to bellow out for the others to follow her example. But she was a warrior, so she planted her feet in the ground. The warrior would follow her Clanmates, even in to the maw of death.

"You had your chance." spoke Lionblaze.

WindClan charged towards him, howling in demand for blood. But they were completely decimated. The golden tabby had monstrous strength which he used to rip apart the warriors. Some were fortunate enough to have their necks broken or their skulls cracked. A quick death. Others were not, their lower jaws torn from their skulls from the sheer strength of Lionblaze's blows, gargling and screaming for the end to come soon.

"I was part of a prophecy - I have the power of the stars!" he cried, crushing a cat's skull into the ground. His paws were drenched in all sorts; blood, skull fragments, grey matter. It made Heathertail sick to her stomach. "I killed my own Clan - what makes you all think you'll be any different!?"

A WindClan warrior attempted to slit his throat, quickly swiping at the ThunderClan cat's throat. It was the perfect opportunity. The cat was too close for Lionblaze to dodge in time or react. It would all be over in a few seconds. But the tom retaliatated, raising his foreleg to block the paw. With his other paw, he slammed it into the foreleg that he the warrior attempted to kill him with.

There was the sickening cracks of bone, followed by the tearing of tendons, muscle, and flesh. The cat howled in agony, writhing in pain on the ground as blood spurted out of the wound.

Heathertail could only watch the carnage unfold, her eyes wide with primal fear and her ears flat against her head, hoping in vain to silence the tormented screams of her Clan. She had always thought Lionblaze was special in some way, but not in such a monstrous way.

"Enough!" Onestar yowled, approaching the bloodied cat. "This ends now!" he roared, leaping for the golden tom. Lionblaze moved out of the way, dodging a set of claws aimed for his neck.

In response, Lionblaze landed a blow on the back of his neck which resonated with a crunch. "One life." he meowed, Onestar landed in a crumpled heap. He approached the fallen leader and attempted to stand on his paws, now revived. He placed both of his paws on the side of the tabby's head. "Now let's make sure you don't come back."

Heathertail couldn't watch, only collapsing to admit defeat. She was almost driven mad by the sounds of a massacre surrounding her that followed soon thereafter. But what could she do? Lionblaze was untouchable, a merciless deity unleashing the full extent of his wrath. Sometimes, the screams were drowned out by the roars of Lionblaze which only served to remind her this was reality and not a nightmare she was going to wake up from.

After what felt like infinity, everything went silent. Shaking and trembling, she looked up and she wished she hadn't. In a field of body parts and corpses, there stood a mass murderer with his bloodied back to her. Heathertail opened her mouth to beg for death, to join her Clanmates and escape the crushing survivor guilt and maddening mental scarring. But all that escaped her mouth was inane, frightened gibberish and sobs.

Lionblaze's ears perked up and he turned to her. Just like in ThunderClan camp, his eyes were devoid of any glee or pride or anger. Just a cold glare. "How about you try to stop me, that would make things interesting." he smiled. While it was just a mundane smile, it was the most awful thing in the world. He walked off soon after, looking to continue his crusade of death.

Heathertail did not follow, dying in the marsh with the rest of her Clan. The mental scarring and guilt were too much for her psyche to handle. It petrified her in the most horrific way possible. For what remained of her life, she lay in a crumpled heap, making frenzied babbling and mumbles.

* * *

 **Finally we've got The Merciless done. I'm extremely sorry for how long this took, I've been busy with prelims coming up soon and work but that's not really an excuse now is it?**

 **Anyways, this was really fun to write when actually listening to Battery. I have no actual clue what Lionblaze's powers are (is he invincible? Because he can't be beaten in a fight but I was told otherwise by a friend that it's super strength and extreme reflexes - which I honestly preferred).**

 **Well, the next oneshot is The Assimilated: Ride The Lightning. I'd like to thank a good friend of mine, Kinkaju, for helping with the name. As usual, feel free to speculate about what it's about.**


	4. The Assimilated - Ride The Lightning

**RIDE THE LIGHTNING**

 _"Guilty as charged,_

 _But damn it, it ain't right,_

 _There is someone else controlling me._

 _Death in the air,_

 _Strapped in the electric chair,_

 _This can't be happening to me."_

Leafpool was miserable.

There was many, many reasons for that; ThunderClan found out about her past relationship with Crowfeather once their daughter - Hollyleaf, now aware of her true heritage - had revealed the truth during a Gathering, she had lost her position as a medicine-cat as punishment, Hollyleaf had tried to force her to eat a deathberry too, and now it was assumed she was dead after the tunnels collapsed.

If that wasn't enough, now it seems that Jayfeather and Poppyfrost had gone missing. A quarter-moon ago, it was as if her son and the queen had just got up and left camp. Their scent trails had gone out of the thorn tunnel and to the Moonpool before they just disappeared.

Needless to say, Leafpool was worried sick.

The brown tabby she-cat sat in the medicine-cat den, having temporarily taken his place until he could be found, arranging herbs. They were running low on marigold, so she wold have to find someone to get fetch some.

Not that nobody wouldn't do it, every cat would just do begrudgingly.

The only cat who didn't dislike her, or was disappointed in her, was her dear sister Squirrelflight. Leafpool could tell her kin how grateful she was for taking care of her kits, it was beyond words. Since their secret got out, they only really had one another.

The tabby she-cat felt guilt weigh heavy on her. Everything, from the very second her kits were born, had been her fault. None of this would have happened had she just owned up to what she had done. But Leafpool was young at the time and was unable to accept the consequences of her actions.

Maybe if she had done that, then Hollyleaf would be alive and Jayfeather wouldn't be missing. Ashfur, driven made by his obsessive love for her sister, would would also be alive and maybe even mentally sound.

Leafpool pushed the thought for her mind. There was no use dwelling on what could have been. With a solemn sigh, she stepped out of the medicine-cat den to find a cat willing to find her some marigold. Most of the Clan ignored her, very few cats even gave her a side glance.

She eyes fell on her son, Lionblaze, chatting with Cinderheart near the fresh-kill pile. She approached them, awkwardly clearing her throat to get their attention. Their conversation stopped dead.

"Oh. . .um, I'll talk to you later Lionblaze, 'kay?" the gray she-cat smiled.

He nodded, "uh, sure thing, Cinderheart."

As Cinderheart left, the golden tabby turned to Leafpool. His golden eyes were full of irritation. "What do you want?" he asked, his tone flat.

"Um. . .would you mind going out and collecting some marigold for me? We're running low." she explained. The medicine-cat hated how palpable the awkwardness between her and her son was. Leafpool only had herself to blame. She would love nothing more to go back to when a simple request didn't feel like such a forced question.

Lionblaze shrugged, "I don't know what it looks like."

Her eyes widened in surprise, "o-oh. Well, why don't you come into the medicine-cat den and I'll show you." she offered. It pained the she-cat to think how he was probably lying. His brother was a medicine-cat, how could he not know what such a simple herb look like?

For a moment, the warrior remained silent. "Fine." he answered.

Lionblaze followed her into the medicine-cat den, the tension between them still as present as ever. Leafpool walked over to one of the crooks she stored herbs in, pulling out a marigold flower and presenting it to him. "Take a while to memorise the scent. They usually grow near water, so look for any marshy places or puddles."

He acknowledged her with a grunt. Without another word, he headed towards the entrance.

"Wait!" Leafpool called. Lionblaze turned to face her, his eyes glittering in annoyance. "Please look for Jayfeather while you're out too. I know you don't like me, but he's my kit as well as your brother." she mewed softly.

Lionblaze's features softened, "I will, I'm afraid for him too." he responded.

The brown tabby she-cat allowed herself to smile a little. "Thank you. You should take Cinderheart with you as well." she added.

He nodded in response then left.

Leafpool returned to arranging the herbs, though feeling a little less miserable this time. Her son definitely hadn't forgiven her, but it seemed that they were one step closer to at least being able to communicate with one another without an awkward atmosphere.

The day continued on as normal with the tabby she-cat keeping to herself in the medicine-cat den. The sun was beginning to set yet Lionblaze and Cinderheart hadn't returned from gathering the marigold.

Anxiety began to gnaw at Leafpool's stomach. A hundred different thoughts were swimming in her mind and none of them comforted her. Firestar had sent out a patrol to find them. Currently, herself and her remaining kin were gathered in the ThunderClan leader's den.

"You don't think they ran away, do you?" Squirrelflight asked.

"Of course not," replied Firestar, "Lionblaze and Cinderheart are loyal to ThunderClan."

"Wait if something happened to them like Jayfeather?" Leafpool anxiously murmured.

"We don't know if anything happened to Jayfeather and Poppyfrost," Sandstorm reminded, "with everything that's happened, I wouldn't be surprised if he had to clear his head. Poppyfrost must have had her reasons, too."

The medicine-cat responded, "but his scent just disappeared! Jayfeather isn't the type of cat to just run away from things - something happened to them both!"

"Calm down, Leafpool," Firestar soothed, "we're all worried about them and we're doing the best we can to find all of them."

Squirrelflight added, "they're _all_ strong cats. Wherever they are, they're fine."

Suddenly, Spiderleg frantically burst into the den. It caught them all of guard. Leafpool's heart sank when she saw the look on his face. His amber eyes were wide with shock and fear, he looked like he had seen a ghost.

"L-Leafpool!" he gasped.

The tabby she-cat forced herself to swallow the storm of emotion in her heart. "What's wrong, Spiderleg?" she asked with a sense of urgency. The air in the den felt tense and suspenseful.

"Need to. . .talk to. . .Cinderheart," he panted, "...needs you."

Leafpool moved past the exhausted warrior and leaped down from Highledge to the camp ground. The shock from landing on the solid ground sent shockwaves up her legs. She ignored the sensation, making her way through the crowd of cats beginning to form.

She gasped when she saw Cinderheart and almost let out a wail of grief.

The normally peppy, bubbly she-cat looked as if been a part of an extremely bloody battle. Her pelt was drenched in blood, making it slick and matted. The look in her eyes told Leafpool that she was petrified and in shock. Two scents were clinging the she-cat; one was Lionblaze's, the other was unfamiliar.

Leafpool's maternal instincts began to take over as she approached Cinderheart. There was no way that was Lionblaze's blood, it couldn't be! Her son was part of a prophecy, he couldn't die until it was fulfilled! She has to push it down, even if she wanted to demand where her son was.

She led the distant warrior into the medicine-cat den, where the scent of death and other unfamiliar smells were clashing with that of tangy herbs. The she-cat had to ignore the awful stench, feeding Cinderheart some poppyseeds to fight off her shock. Despite being blood-drenched, the she-cat had no wounds of her own.

After a few minutes, Leafpool forced herself to speak. "W-what happened?" she mewed. Her voice was cracking, grief threatening to swallow her up.

Even after the shock had worn off, Cinderheart was still traumatised. Whatever she had experienced had taken something from her, something she would never get back. There was no light in her eyes like there used to be, not spark of optimism; only hollowness.

"I-I don't know. It was t-too fast." she responded. Her tone was flat, like the emotion had been sucked out of her. Suddenly, Cinderheart's eyes lit up with fear, like a roaring inferno of a primitive need to survive.

"You need to run!" she wailed. The tabby she-cat dug her claws into Leafpool's shoulders, looking her directly in the eyes. "It's coming! You need to get away _now_ or it'll catch you! Run, Leafpool, get away!" Cinderheart screeched.

She let go of the medicine-cat, curling up into a tight ball and frantically muttering to herself. Leafpool could only stare, wide-eyed and afraid. Her son was dead, she was sure of that, and whatever had done that was coming for her next.

Firestar, along with a couple to senior warriors, stormed into the den. "It's everything okay?" he demanded.

Leafpool couldn't answer at first, the words stuck in her throat. "C-Cinderheart said th-that whatever happened to Lionblaze is coming f-for me next." she replied. As a mother, she wanted nothing more to let out a howl of pain and loss for her son. But the medicine-cat would have to wait until his body was actually recovered - whatever state it was in.

Firestar's eyes went dark. "So Lionblaze is hunting with StarClan now?" he asked.

Holding back tears, Leafpool replied. "Y-yes."

The tom sombrely shook his head. It was clear he wanted to grieve too, but the most he would allow himself at this moment was a minuscule display of that emotion. "We will go get his body now, then bury him at sunrise." he murmured.

"I-I want to come too." Leafpool stated.

Firestar shook his head, "you need to watch over Cinderheart."

"Please!" she begged, "Cinderheart's just reeling from her experience, she's not wounded. All she needs is someone to watch over her for just a little while," she sniffled, "please. I might not have raised him, but he was my son."

Her father caved in, "okay, okay."

Leafpool purred weakly, nuzzling Firestar under his chin, "thank you."

The group that was assembled was made up of Firestar, Leafpool, Squirrelflight, Brambleclaw, and a several senior warriors. The ThunderClan leader hadn't explained as to why they needed so much muscle, but Leafpool knew why - he was afraid for her. If that thing that took Lionblaze came for her, then it would be making a mistake.

Cinderheart was in no condition to be giving directions, so they had to follow Spiderleg. The normally hardy warrior was severely skittish, jumping at shadows and freezing at the sound of leaves rustling. The anxiety in Leafpool was threatening to overwhelm her. She felt as if she was being hunted.

 _This is what it must be to feel like prey,_ she thought to herself.

Soon enough they found Lionblaze's body. He had been completely butchered, covered in deep cuts. His blood was everywhere; on the trees, the grass, the bushes. Leafpool felt her blood run cold and her breathing quicken, her heart pounding against her rib cage. Their strongest warrior, her own son, had been slaughtered. If Cinderheart's rambling was to be believed, then she needed to run for the hills - and fast.

"Was it a badger?" Thornclaw wondered aloud, swallowing the lump in his throat.

Spiderleg shrugged his shoulders, "I don't think so, it would've killed Cinderheart too."

"Can't you talk about this is private?!" Squirrelflight hissed, "that's my kin there!"

The two warriors shifted uncomfortably, "s-sorry. We didn't mean to offend-"

Firestar interrupted the their conversation, "enough debating! Let's get Lionblaze's body back to camp before-"

He was interrupted by a faint scream. The pelts of everybody present bristled and Leafpool could feel a chill run down her spine. She couldn't quite place it, but it sounded hauntingly familiar. She remembered what Cinderheart had said.

"We need to leave." she whimpered to her father. He didn't seem to hear her, preoccupied with the mysterious cry.

"What in StarClan's name was that?!" Thornclaw's head whipped in every which direction, looking for the source of the scream.

Spiderleg cautiously took a step backwards, "I don't know, but it's not safe here. Let's come back in the-"

Suddenly, a dark gray blur shot by him. It was so fast, Leafpool hardly noticed it going by until it let out a scream. It was a primal, enraged and pained scream unlike anything she had ever heard before. The thing left as quickly as it came.

Spiderleg collapsed, his throat having been ripped out. He began writhing on the ground, choking on his own blood.

"Foxdung!" Thornclaw cried out. He began to run, shooting off like a lightning bolt but the thing caught him. It disappeared just as quick as before, leaving the golden-brown tom with a vicious bite in iphis throat.

Everyone scrambled, trying their best to escape their death. It caught them all. Delivering bites and slashes to the neck to some; otherwise met more gory demises.

Leafpool, running alongside her father and sister, didn't hear any strangled cries from her Clanmates - only the screams of that thing. She had forgotten all about Lionblaze's body after that. Her instincts were telling her to survive by any means necessary.

"What was that?!" Squirrelflight panted.

Firestar replied, "I-I don't know! I've never seen anything like it!"

The medicine-cat couldn't believe any of this was happening, she had never heard either of them so panicked before. She tried to convince herself this was all a nightmare, that she would wake up in her nest soon. But she couldn't ever dream up something so horrible.

The blur appeared again, tackling Squirrelflight into Firestar. All three cats went tumbling, rolling over their heads and heels until they skidded to a halt in the dirt. Leafpool coughed, grimacing at the taste of earth in her mouth. "A-are you two okay?" she asked, shakily getting to her paws.

Squirrelflight groaned, "M-my paw's twisted."

Leafpool shivered, seeing that her sister's foot was now contorted and facing the wrong direction. If they survived, the tabby didn't think she could be the same warrior again.

"Awwww, don't worry," a voice sneered, "that paw's the least of your worries."

The medicine-cat had never heard such a voice before, not even in her nightmares. It was something that shouldn't exist, but still did; an affront to StarClan. It was spiteful and cruel, yet all too familiar. It sounded like two cats talking in unison, sometimes one would speak over the other. One sounded pained and afraid, the other was fully venomous.

She could never forget what Jayfeather sounded like. Nor could she pretend that the other wasn't familiar; Breezepelt.

Leafpool's eyes widened when she got to look at 'them' for the first time. It was lean like Jayfeather, with the muscle of Breezepelt. It's pelt was a mix between her son's and the WindClan warrior's, having tabby stripes but still extremely dark in colour - much darker than a normal tabby pelt. It's body was heavily scarred, like it was covered in smooth snakes. It had an abnormal amount of toes on each foot, ranging from anywhere from five to eight. It's face was frightening. It's maw was missing pieces, exposing the teeth underneath. It's eyes were milky white as if it was blind. But Leafpool knew it could see them clearly.

Firestar put himself between them and it, snarling fiercely. It wasn't long until he saw the resemblance of his grandson, "...Jayfeather?"

'Jayfeather' suddenly became angered. "He's not Jayfeather! We're Breezepelt!" they screeched. "N-no, I-I _am_ Jaypelt. Breezefeather?" as the assimilated being became confused, it's head suddenly began vibrating. It was moving so fast that it became a blur before splitting into two halves.

Leafpool gagged, torn between wailing in fear or in grief. Jayfeather and Breezepelt seemed to be splitting apart, both of their heads fused together in a fleshy mess before suddenly rejoining in their monstrous form. All the while, they both screamed in agony.

What happened to them? How did they end up as this monster?

"I'm sorry, Jayfeather, Breezepelt," Firestar murmured grimly, "StarClan forgive me."

He leaped for them, his claws outstretched. Squirrelflight opened her mouth to let out a cry. Before she could utter anything, they butchered Firestar in a blur. He had ripped open Firestar in a manner similar to Tigerstar's death Leafpool remembered hearing about.

The two sisters, knowing they were staring death in the face, huddled closer for comfort. The assimilated being turned to them, their teeth bared. "We'll kill you all. I'll tear everything he's ever loved to pieces."

 _Breezepelt, enough! Stop this, please!_ Jayfeather pleaded.

Breezepelt took a menacing step forward, wanting to tease his bastard half brother with their inevitable death. This was so much better than he had anticipated. The WindClan warrior originally planned to frame Jayfeather for Poppyfrost's death.

But during their fight, they had fallen into the Moonpool.

Neither of them could begin to describe what happened to them or what it was like to be suddenly, painfully forced together into one amalgamated body. Both Breezepelt and Jayfeather could move the body, but the WindClan warrior's viciousness won out and now only he was in control. Though, they were still constantly fighting one another.

All Jayfeather was to him now was an annoying little voice in the back of his head. Something he didn't know, however, what that the ThunderClan medicine-cat was special. Whether or not he was the swiftness they both bared now or if it was something else he had was irrelevant to Breezepelt.

All that he cared about was how it made this systematic slaughter much more enjoyable.

 _I'm not stopping until every single one of your kin has their throat ripped out!_ Breezepelt snapped. He shot forward, faster than their of the two she-cats could react. He swiped his claws out, catching Squirrelflight under her chin. The ginger she-cat's head slowly began jerking upwards, her expression remaining static.

It was like time stopped for them once they were moving fast. Breezepelt enjoyed that very much, it provided opportunities to torture Jayfeather with. The ThunderClan cat's howls of loss were filling his mind - he wanted more of it.

They reaches out with their other paw - or rather, two other paws - sinking each of the eight claws into Leafpool's neck and yanking backwards. Her throat had been ripped out, yet no blood had been spilled nor had her expression twisted to show the agony she was in.

Then they slowed down.

It was like a symphony of carnage, with bone snapping and cats choking on their own blood. For a moment, he watched Leafpool as she stared at them with round, shocked eyes.

 _Enough, please. You win..._ Jayfeather weakly begged.

"No, not yet," they replied maliciously. "We're not done until this forest is red!"

 _No..._

"Yes." they replied, drool dripping down their chin. The monster tensed itself, crouching low to the ground.

 _Nononononono..._

They sprang forwards, bolting through ThunderClan territory like a demented bat.

 _No more bloodshed!_

They burst through the thorn tunnel into ThunderClan camp, letting out a howl for blood.

This time, Jayfeather said nothing.

* * *

 **Dark Worlds returns with The Assimilated: Ride The Lightning! I have no idea why I put this project off, especially since this was fun to write with a song with such a godly guitar solo to boot.**

 **I wondered what Breezepelt's power would be if he was somehow the fourth, and it made sense to me that it would be speed since I think it suits him. With him being impulsive and quick to anger it just works.**

 **The Metallica song references continue next time with The Plagued: Leper Messiah.**


	5. The Plagued - Leper Messiah

**LEPER MESSIAH**

 _"Spineless from the start, sucked into the part,_

 _Circus comes to town, you play the lead clown,_

 _Please, please,_

 _Spreading her disease, living by her story,_

 _Knees, knees,_

 _Falling to your knees, suffer for her glory,_

 _You will."_

Anxiously, Firestar waited by the thorn tunnel for the patrol's return. They had been gone for some time now and if they were following his orders then they would be scouring the territory. No stone would be left unturned.

He knew that the likely reality of the situation was that the patrol would come back unsuccessful. But the ThunderClan leader couldn't give up hope; he had to keep it burning bright. In his own personal opinion, that had been how he was able to lead his Clan through trail after trail.

Firestar wanted this time to be no different.

The patrol, made of only senior warriors, soon entered ThunderClan camp. The leader of this group was his new deputy, Brackenfur. "Did you find her?" the tom nervously asked him.

The golden-brown cat shot him a sympathetic look. "We didn't. Sorry, Firestar." he replied.

He sighed. With less enthusiasm, he asked again, "Did you find any of them?"

Silently, Brackenfur shook his head.

The ginger tom lowered his head, walking off. He could feel the sympathetic eyes of his Clanmates boring into his pelt. He knew he should be keeping a strong face, like he had at first. But day after day of coming back to the same report was wearing him down. Firestar supposed he was holding onto a slim chance that they would return, especially now that they were in a new territory.

It had been a few moons since all four Clans had made the arduous journey from the former home to their new territories. Just before they left, during the destruction of the forest, twolegs had abducted several cats. Among them was his own daughter, Leafpaw, along with his best friend and deputy, Graystripe, and his nephew, Cloudtail. Other cats from ThunderClan had been taken too, but his mind couldn't prioritise them over those closest to him.

It was only natural, Firestar knew that, but it didn't stop him from feeling selfish and guilty. There were a lot more cats hurting, longing for a patrol to return with their loved ones, only to be greeted with disappointment.

But the hardest part of this routine was still to come.

Firestar approached the warrior den, swallowing the lump in his throat and tried to ignore his aching heart. "Sandstorm? Squirrelflight?" he called into the den. Three cats emerged; his loving mate, their daughter, and her own mate.

Sandstorm looked at him. She had always been such a strong cat, even in the darkest of times. During the battle with BloodClan, the destruction of the forest, when badgers attacked ThunderClan camp, each time she held a determined look in her eyes. There was nothing of that sort anymore, only a bleak pessimism.

Squirrelflight didn't look any better. She was leaning into Brambleclaw whose amber eyes were glimmering with worry. His tail was draped over her small frame in a gesture of comfort.

"Well?" croaked Sandstorm. Sorrow tugged at the ginger tom's heart, the hollowness in her voice was killing him.

For a moment, Firestar couldn't speak. It was as if the desperate look in his daughter's eye combined with her mother's defeated look stole his ability to talk. "They didn't find anyone." he finally responded, his voice hoarse.

"Who did you send?" Squirrelflight demanded. Her dark ginger bushy tail lashed behind her. Brambleclaw went to soothe her, but the she-cat shot him an intense glare. Anyone who had been around her for long enough knew that look meant stop talking.

Firestar tried his best to stay calm. He wanted to snap at her, to tell her they were doing the best they could to find the missing cats, to tell her that she wasn't the only one hurting. But he restrained himself; a shouting match wasn't the answer. "I sent Dustpelt, Brackenfur, Thornclaw, and Rainwhisker. Please, Squirrelflight, we're doing the best we can." he soothed.

"We should have found them by now!" his daughter protested.

Sandstorm mumbled, "What's the point? We're wasting our time."

Squirrelflight spun around to face her mother while Firestar could only stare at his mate in shock. "Don't say that!"

The pale ginger cat snapped in response. "Be realistic! It's been moons since they've been taken, if they haven't found us now then they'll never find us - especially since we moved territory!"

The ThunderClan leader tried to respond, but his words fell flat. But what could he say when his mate was right? As much as desperately held on to hope, like an apprentice sinking their fangs into the pelt of a larger warrior, he was starting to let go. Perhaps he had always believed that they were lost to ThunderClan but denial had kept him searching.

Perhaps it was time to stop living in a fantasy and face reality; their daughter was gone, his best friend was gone, their Clanmates were gone. Firestar gave a solemn sigh. "You're right, Sandstorm. Tonight, anyone who wants to can sit vigil for the missing cats."

There was no response from either his daughter or mate. Instead, Brambleclaw spoke up. "Do you want me to tell Cinderpelt?" he offered.

The ginger cat flashed him a saddened, but grateful, smile. "Please." he responded. He couldn't bare to tell Cinderpelt they had given up - he couldn't even look her in the eye anymore. A few moons ago, badgers had raided ThunderClan camp and during the commotion a queen named Sorreltail had began giving birth.

Cinderpelt, StarClan bless her, had to fight off a badger that had wandered into the nursery on top of helping Sorreltail. Fortunately, she had lived through the ordeal - but at a price. Like her sister, Brightheart, one side of her face was left horribly scarred. The medicine-cat was the only one who knew what to do in that kind of situation.

So Firestar had done his best to heal her, having to learn how to make basic poultices from Cinderpelt when she wasn't delirious from poppy seeds and asking any cat he could about which herbs did which. The tom remembered spending days and sleepless nights by his former apprentice's side until she recovered.

Cinderpelt didn't deserve any of what happened to her.

As Brambleclaw left to inform the medicine-cat, Firestar retired to his den. He wanted some peace and quiet. The Clan couldn't see that he had given up hope, that he was grieving. ThunderClan had to see him as a strong leader, one who put on a brave face in times of hardship or they would lose faith in him.

All Firestar wanted to do was give up, wishing that the fox trap Hawkfrost put him in had actually taken all nine lives. The ThunderClan leader was dreading the announcement he would have to make later. In his mind's eye, he could already see the distraught and outraged faces of his Clan.

"StarClan help me." he mumbled, burying his face between his paws. What was he supposed to tell his Clan? That he had given up on finding the lost cats? He could tell them that they had to focus on keeping ThunderClan strong and well instead of looking for the last cats - StarClan will guide them home if they weren't hunting with their ancestors already.

Nothing Firestar thought of was going to satisfy anyone. It was times like this where he longed to be a warrior once again, never having to worry about his choice of words when addressing his Clan. Suddenly, Brackenfur excitedly scrambled into his den. "Firestar! Firestar!" he yowled. "It's Leafpaw! She found ThunderClan!"

The dark thoughts and worries in the ginger tom's mind seemed to melt away. He stared at his deputy, his green eyes wide and his ears pricked. The ThunderClan leader said nothing, swiftly exiting the den. He didn't bother to climb down from Highledge, opting instead to leap down. He landed with a grunt.

A group of ThunderClan cats had gathered with excited and joyful murmurs, surrounding who was most likely his daughter. Firestar couldn't see her, but in his heart of hearts he knew Leafpaw had come home. He pushed by warriors and apprentices, queens and elders, and made his way into the inner circle. In the centre, he found his daughter, mate, and Brambleclaw. But his attention wasn't on them, rather Firestar was staring at the she-cat before them.

She was small and skinny, practically skin and bones. Her fur was primarily a brown tabby pelt, but she had a white chest and paws. Said fur was horribly matted and messy, making her look more like a rogue than a medicine-cat apprentice. There was also a strange twoleg thing in her ear. Her eyes, StarClan her eyes, were so hollow and tired. The she-cat's scent was pungent of twolegs and other strange smells, but underneath it all was the scent of Leafpaw.

Firestar couldn't say anything, only letting out an overjoyed yowl as he bounded over to his long lost daughter and gave her a love nuzzle, giving a throaty purr all the while. The rest of his family joined him while ThunderClan celebrated her return. He didn't noticed, but Leafpaw didn't purr in return.

The broke away, massive smiles on their faces. "We missed you so much!" Sandstorm cried.

Their daughter flashed them a small smile. "I missed you too." she mewed. The tabby-and-white she-cat went off to greet each ThunderClan cat, nuzzling them and sharing tongues with them all. Firestar felt hope return to him, like a blazing inferno in his heart. Maybe the others could be found too.

Over the next few days, Leafpaw was given time to recover and settle back into Clan life. Firestar had so many questions he had to ask, but he would happily wait now that his kit was home. After a quarter moon, he had invited Leafpaw into his den along with Sandstorm and Squirrelflight.

Leafpaw looked much better now, her pelt now groomed and the twoleg stink gone from her fur. However, the twoleg thing was still in her ear.

"Having trouble getting that thing out?" the ThunderClan leader asked. Suddenly, he felt a bit fuzzy but tried to ignore it.

"This?" Leafpaw replied, twitching her left ear. "I've tried getting it out, but I think it's stuck in."

Sandstorm commented, "it's a strange collar. Usually they put them around your neck."

Their daughter's fur suddenly bristled. "I-I wasn't made a kittypet." she responded quietly.

The den went quiet. Firestar could feel his blood running cold as if it had been replaced with ice. He saw how upset and uncomfortable his daughter had become, just what had happened to her? "Leafpaw..." he softly mewed, "what happened to you?"

The medicine-cat apprentice steadied herself, averting her kin's gaze. "When I was taken by the twolegs, I was brought to this place with other Clan cats," she started, "I-I still don't know what that place was, but they did. . .horrible things to us."

Morbid curiosity forced Firestar to speak. "W-what like?" he inquired.

"Firestar!" Sandstorm gasped.

The tom quickly added, "You don't have to talk about it if it's uncomfortable for you." He felt hot with shame. How insensitive could he be?! The ThunderClan leader was beginning to feel ill at the thought of his daughter being treated like some twoleg plaything.

Leafpaw, without a word, rolled onto her back. Firestar felt shock surge through him as his eyes fell on the large scar running from her chest to the bottom of her belly. It reminded him of the wound that Scourge had killed Tigerstar with. However, this scar was much more cleaner, like it had been caused with such careful precision. The she-cat rolled back onto her belly.

"They put strange thorns in me to make me sleep and when I woke up I had strange cobwebs keeping the wound shut. I-I don't know what they put in me, or what they took out," Leafpaw meowed. "The thorns weren't just to make me sleep, either. Some were being put in me to take my blood or put things in me. I couldn't even fight back because twolegs were pinning me."

Squirrelflight rushed over to her, giving her a reassuring nuzzle. "That's awful!" she gasped. "But we're-" the dark ginger she-cat stopped mid-sentence, her body wracked by a vicious cough.

"Maybe you should go to the medicine-cat den, Squirrelflight. That's an awful cough." Leafpaw meowed.

Firestar frowned; she didn't need to be so passive aggressive. Suddenly, he was hit by a wave of nausea before he developed the same brutal cough as his daughter. "Make that two of us." he heaved. There was a trickle of blood falling from the corner of his mouth. He wiped it away using his tail, feeling concern flow through him. The tom might be in trouble.

"Before you go, I want to say something," the tabby-and-white she-cat meowed, getting to her paws. "I waited for moons in that awful place, hoping that ThunderClan would come save me from being treated like some plaything - but nobody came, did they?"

Despite how ill the ThunderClan leader was beginning to feel, he had to comfort his daughter. "Leafpaw, I'm truly sorry about the awful things the twolegs done to you and you have every right to be angry, but you need to see that-" another fit of coughs came, rougher than the last. He nearly collapsed, feeling the strength drain from him.

"Shut up!" Leafpaw hissed. "If you were really sorry then you would have looked for me! For the ThunderClan cats! But they're all dead now and I was violated by twolegs worse than any sick rogue could hope to!"

Firestar could hear a 'thud' from behind him, even in his sickly state he knew that Sandstorm or Squirrelflight had just collapsed like he had. "L-Leafpaw, s-stop it!" he protested. He was too weak to do anything, he could only endure the agony in his lungs and hope that the blood leaking from his mouth and nose didn't choke him.

"You left me to rot!" the medicine-cat apprentice spat, "you left us all to rot! Because you didn't rescue us, they were ripped open like prey and tossed away like crowfood afterwards. But don't worry, I'll send you to StarClan for judgement."

The ginger tom tried to force himself to his paws, but his limbs were erratic. It was like he wasn't in control of his own body anymore. His vision was going blurry. All he wanted to do was apologise to her from the bottom of his heart.

"The twolegs; they done something to me," Leafpaw mewed, "whatever it was, it turned me into a walking illness. They put me in Brightheart's cage and she died exactly like you and the rest of ThunderClan are." she explained, lowering her head so that her breath was hot in her father's ear. "Just being near me is enough to give you it - and it works quickly. I call it Redcough."

Firestar couldn't see a thing anymore, his vision had gone black. He couldn't feel anything anymore. Barely breathing, he felt as if he had been swallowed up by a void. The tom was unable to fight against his daughter and her disease so he would die with the knowledge that she blamed them all for her trauma. With all of his strength, he muttered a single sentence.

"I-I'm s-so sorry, Leafpaw."

Leafpaw looked down at her father and the rest of her kin. Blood was pooling around their faces, their eyes unfocused and sickly. Their chests were barely moving, Redcough eating them from the inside out. She could hear panic from outside the den as ThunderClan cats were beginning to suffer from her disease. No cat would be spared and they would waste away just like they allowed her to.

Leafpaw whispered harshly, "You're not as sorry as StarClan's going to make you. All of you."

* * *

 **This was a fun one to write. Honestly in canon if Leafpaw hadn't escaped from the twolegs I'd imagine that she would have been put in a sanctuary or a cattery, but this is Dark Worlds and nothing good happens here.**

 **I made some minor changes to the song lyrics to fit the oneshot better, just changing masculine pronouns to feminine ones. Should I make minor tweaks like that in future? Let me now.**

 **Next up is The Drowned: Holy Diver or maybe The Spurned: Phantom Limb. I haven't really decied yet haha - maybe I'll do both of them!**


	6. The Spurned - Phantom Limb

**PHANTOM LIMB**

 _"My regrets are many, true,_

 _Still so much worse lies ahead for you._

 _Ego pulverised,_

 _No better medicine,_

 _Angels have been advised,_

 _Don't want no requiem,"_

"Upset? I'm not upset!" Ashfur spat. Squirrelflight wasn't sure if the tom's eyes were clouded with rage or grief. "You don't know how much pain I'm in! It's like being cut open every single day, bleeding onto the stones. I don't know how none of you have seen the blood..."

The smoke billowed around them, the fire surrounding them hungrily licking away at trees and bushes and devouring them all. The heat was unbearable and suffocating.

The speckled tom was blocking her way to her kits, his eyes piercing her soul. They held a longing in them, but it wasn't the same they held when they were young warriors. It was a different, darker longing. Ashfur wanted her to suffer.

Squirrelflight hadn't given birth to Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Hollyleaf but she still felt the same fear and panic any mother would. She had raised them since their birth; as far as she was concerned they were her kits.

Her green eyes flickered between them and Ashfur. She could just see them over his shoulder, their eyes alight with hysteria. They were warriors, just as brave and as courageous as any of their Clanmates, yet so terribly afraid. Her kits didn't know what to do, they hadn't been trained for this; they needed their mother more than ever.

The dark ginger she-cat would have had a tough time fighting Ashfur under normal circumstances. He was more physically powerful than she was, and with the fire raging around them? The speckled gray cat could easily throw her into the inferno.

Squirrelflight knew she had to ignore her mind screaming at her to protect her kits and secret at all costs, no matter how loud it shouted she had to drown it out. Suppress it. She had to talk Ashfur down, clear the angry haze in his mind.

The lives of Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Hollyleaf depended on it.

Ashfur's head turned briefly towards her kits, "I'll hurt you like you hurt me." He turned back to Squirrelflight. She could see now the venom in his eyes, hear it dripping from every word he spoke. "A mother's nothing without her kits, is she?"

He turned away from her, his tail lashing as he clambered up onto the trunk of the tree. It was supposed to help the three young cats on the other side to cross over - Ashfur had other ideas.

The she-cat felt alarm shoot through her and her heart beat against her chest like it wanted to break out. The easygoing warrior who loved her in their youth was gone, replaced by a bitter tom with a need for revenge. If she didn't do something, he would surely slaughter them.

"Enough, Ashfur, enough!" she cried out, "your fight's with me, right? My kits haven't done anything to hurt you. I'm the one you want, not them!"

Squirrelflight took a step closer.

"Stay put!" snarled Ashfur. "You're going to know what it feels like to suffer - suffer like I did!"

The dark ginger she-cat flinched, fear paralysing her. If she allowed herself to react with hostility, then the situation could turn from bad to worse. Squirrelflight could feel anger building up inside her, made only stronger by the maternal instinct roaring inside her. She could feel it clawing away at her mind, scraping at her judgment so that all she was impulse and instincts. Squirrelflight had to suppress these emotions.

"You're as blind as Jayfeather is! How couldn't you see how you hurt me!?" the speckled cat went on. "I tried to show you once and failed, but this time I'll do it right!"

Confusion set over Squirrelflight. "What do you mean you tried once?"

"Who do you think sent Firestar down to the lake, with the fox trap there?" Ashfur scorned. "I wanted him to die, so you would know what real pain felt like."

Everything made sense in that moment. Ashfur had been conspiring for moons upon moons, finding ways to try and make her miserable. He had been a distant and cold mentor to Lionblaze because he was her kit. He had tried to kill her father and was now going to kill her kits.

All because Ashfur was rejected.

Squirrelflight began shaking. Not from fear or from shock - but from fury. This tom, this selfish monster, had been terrorising her kin because he had been told 'no' and was convinced he was justified in his actions.

The dark ginger she-cat couldn't contain her feelings anymore. "You won't hurt my kits!" she screamed with a furious howl. She pounced on Ashfur, her claws sinking into his shoulders.

"You mousebrain! You're going to-"

"-Protect my kits!" Squirrelflight spat. With all her strength, she threw the speckled tom off of the log and down into the fire. Ashfur hadn't expected it, struggling in vain to grip the bark before he fell into the flames. As soon as he hit the ground, his pelt caught fire and it quickly enveloped his body. He was left a figure made of fire, dying as his flesh melted and bubbled.

Squirrelflight ignored the toms howls of pain and his promises of vengeance, shouting over him to her kits, "Come on! We need to leave!"

After a moment of stunned silence, the three cats nodded. Squirrelflight could see in their eyes that the ordeal had spooked them, even more so with Ashfur's screams of agony. Truthfully, it made her blood run cold too. "Just focus on me, okay? Don't look at anything else but me," she ordered, trying her best to keep her tone level and calm for their sake.

Soon enough, her kits made their way safely over to the other side. As they ran, Squirrelflight took a quick glance over her shoulder. She saw Ashfur, a quivering heap in the fire, giving her the most venomous glare. The fire may have blinded him, or maybe he was in his final moments, but she felt as if he saw staring into her soul and shredding it to ribbons.

That was the last time she saw Ashfur.

Moons had passed since the fire and things had returned to normal for Squirrelflight. Mostly, anyways. The news of Ashfur's demise had shocked the Clan, which was to be expected. She had told ThunderClan about his intentions that fateful night along with his undetected treachery, though some cats found it hard to accept.

Squirrelflight looked over towards the nursery, seeing that Ferncloud was basking in the sunlight. Her expression was melancholic as she stared off into space. She felt a stab of pity for the queen. She couldn't accept what her brother had become or how he allowed such venom to consume him. The dark ginger she-cat couldn't blame her. If it turned out Leafpool had done heinous things, she doubted she could face the reality.

Ferncloud must have felt her watching, turning her head to meet Squirrelflight's gaze. The warrior quickly looked away, feeling the queen's eyes on her like thorns in her pelt. She didn't believe anyone could fault her for her actions, but StarClan, did she feel guilty for hurting Ferncloud.

The she-cat entered the medicine-cat den quickly, wanting to get out of Ferncloud's sight. Her nose was hit by the strong scent of herbs, surrounding her in its aroma. Squirrelflight was always fond of it, strongly associating it with her kin. Inside was Leafpool and Jayfeather, hard at work.

The blind tom's ears pricked up, showing he was aware of her presence. Her sister turned to face her, offering a small smile.

Squirrelfight did feel guilt for murdering Ashfur if only because of the suffering those close to him were enduring right now, but the weight on her shoulders become lighter when seeing the tom she raised. Knowing that the secret of his true heritage and the tom himself was safe, made it feel worth it.

"Squirrelflight, what can we do for you?" the tabby-and-white she-cat asked.

The warrior responded, "I was just coming for a visit."

"Well then, hello," Jayfeather murmured, "and now you've visited, so goodbye."

Squirrelflight cuffed the tom over the ears. "Don't talk to your mother like that," she scolded him lightly. The gray tom flinched, opening his mouth to make another quip but she spoke first. "Do you have something to add, Jayfeather?" she challenged.

He huffed, "Nothing."

"Mhm, I thought so," Squirrelflight murmured, giving him a small lick on the ear. She couldn't have been more proud of her kit. Being a medicine-cat wasn't his first choice, as he had been stubbornly chasing after his dream of being a warrior until he realised he was naturally talented in what was now his occupation.

Hollyleaf had the same situation, though she came through with opposite results. So they switched places. At the time, Squirrelflight had been impressed by their maturity in realising what they were good at and following that - even if it wasn't what they initially wanted.

Lionblaze turned out to be a fine warrior, maybe even the best despite his mentor being Ashfur.

Just the thought of the speckled warrior made her fur stand on end. Even though he was gone, it was as if he never truly left. Every time she closed her eyes, she remembered back to the fire where his hateful gaze was still locked on her. Sometimes, the dark ginger she-cat had nightmares about what could have been if she hadn't killed him.

Suddenly, Jayfeather spoke. "Are you alright, Squirrelflight?"

The she-cat was suddenly brought back to reality. She forgot how sensitive Jayfeather was to the emotions of other cats, even if he was a prickly pelt all the time. "Oh me? I'm fine," she lied.

"Are you sure?" Leafpool asked, her eyes glittering with concern. In a low voice, she added, "We can talk about it in private, if you want."

Silently, Squirrelflight nodded. Perhaps if she talked to her sister, then the memory of Ashfur would stop haunting her. They left the medicine-cat den and found somewhere quiet.

The tabby-and-white she-cat sat down in front of her sister, her tail curling around her paws. "What's wrong, Squirrelflight?" Leafpool softly asked.

"It's just-" the dark ginger she-cat sighed. "I keep thinking about the fire; it's like it's stuck in my head."

Leafpool nuzzled her. "It's okay, it's okay," she soothed gently. "It was… a really hard decision to make, but you didn't really have a choice."

The warrior could see that she didn't really think that, but she couldn't blame her sister. Leafpool was a medicine-cat, she thought of things differently.

Squirrelflight nodded. "I know, but I look at Ferncloud and Cloudtail and I see what I've done to them. Everything Ashfur's done, his death... it must have hit them like a monster," she sighed.

The tabby-and-white she-cat blinked sympathetically. Suddenly, she looked around before whispering, "Do they know?"

Quickly, the dark ginger she-cat shook her head. "No, that's why I had to kill Ashfur; so they wouldn't find out."

The medicine-cat shifted uncomfortably. "I… I think there would have been an easier way," she admitted.

The warrior met her gaze. She felt a flare of anger within her, but she kept it subdued. This was neither the time or place to be angry. All Squirrelflight had to do was tell Leafpool how she was wrong, her voice low. "Listen, Leafpool. Ashfur would have killed them just so he could get to me. If I told him that they weren't my kits, why would that stop him? I still raised them and that's all that matters. He would've killed them!"

Squirrelflight felt a shiver suddenly run down her spine. The air around her turned cold, frigid even. The she-cat felt like someone or something was staring at her, a hateful glare burning through her pelt. She turned around, scanning their surroundings. Out of the corner of her eye, Squirrelflight saw a figure. It was a gray speckled tom. The blood in her veins went cold, her pelt bristled. It couldn't be him, could it?

When she blinked, the figure disappeared.

"Squirrelflight?" Leafpool mewed.

She snapped back to reality. "Oh! Did you say something?" the dark ginger she-cat asked.

The medicine-cat slowly shook her head. "No, it's just that you look like you saw a ghost. Are you okay?" she asked tentatively.

"...I'm fine," responded Squirrelflight, "Just tired, that's all." To emphasise her point, she yawned. The warrior then gave her sister a loving nuzzle, bidding her farewell before she retired to the warriors den. That night, Squirrelflight dreamt. Perhaps 'dreamt' was a word too kind to describe the reality.

The she-cat jolted awake, finding herself in a familiar place which filled her with dread. It was the scene of the fire - the night she killed Ashfur. Except she wasn't surrounded by the raging infernos so brilliantly burned into her mind. They were out. The terrain around her was smouldering, dark embers floating in the air. Everything was covered in soot and ash if it wasn't burned black. The baked earth underneath her paws was warm, uncomfortably so.

The air in ashen forest was dead. There was no wind, no prey, nothing. The only sound present was Squirrelflight's uneven breathing. She didn't like this; something was wrong. It was a nightmare, she acknowledged that, but her terror still filled her being.

"Are you proud of what you did?" a voice sneered.

Squirrelflight's heart stopped, her eyes widened, and her pelt bristled. Slowly, she turned to face the owner of the voice and there he stood; Ashfur. His patchy pelt was covered in ash, parts of his scarred and melted flesh exposed to the air, and his eyes held as much venom as the night he died.

"The heartbreak wasn't enough, was it?" Ashfur leered. "You just had to let me burn alive for good measure."

"I don't have to justify myself to a fox-heart like you!" she objected. She repeated over and over again in her heard that it was just a nightmare, that she would wake up soon.

The tom began to move forward. "I hate you so, so much - but you did me a favour. Since I died, I've been stuck here. I didn't go to StarClan or the Dark Forest, so obviously I've got some unfinished business with you."

Ashfur was close enough to where it made Squirrelflight anxious. She took a step back, her hostile gaze fixed on him. "So that's what I'm doing to sort out, I'll take everything you ever loved away from you!" the tom hissed, pouncing on Squirrelflight.

The she-cat quickly pushed him off before he could do anything damage. She ducked under his swing along with his follow up. Ashfur may have been bigger than her, but he was slow and sluggish in his movements. With all of her strength, Squirrelflight bowled him over.

"This time, stay dead!" she bellowed, slitting open his throat.

Ashfur's eyes widened in shock as he began to choke, his eyes staring directly into the she-cat's soul. In her mind's eye, she could see his gaze from the night of the fire and she shivered. Suddenly, a smile slowly crept up onto his muzzle.

"You mousebrain," he weakly laughed, "you actually did it."

"Of course I did, any cat would." Snarled Squirrelflight.

"Did you even consider how easily you just 'killed' me? You couldn't best me in a real fight. I wanted this, Squirrelflight."

Her features twisted in confusion as dread slowly crept into her heart, like a fox stalking its prey. Why would he want her to kill him? Ashfur couldn't gain anything from dying a second time if he wasn't a product of her nightmare anyways. Which is all he was, she told herself. The world around them then suddenly began to fall apart. The sky darkened as the trees and ashen waste began to liquidate into nothing.

But Ashfur's dying body stayed, his pelt changed colour as his scars seemed to miraculously heal. The shifting body suddenly became recognisable and her despair overtook her. "Nonononononono..." she sobbed. Her heart was beating madly against her ribs, like a bird that wanted so badly to break free.

She was back in the warriors den, surrounded by fellow cats who all wore the same shocked expression. Their eyes were fixated on her and their mouths agape, all of them filled with denial if they weren't still processing the scene they just woken up to. She felt the same, mentally screaming that this was just another part of the nightmare. This wasn't reality, she refused to accept it!

Even now, as Brambleclaw's betrayed gaze was fixed on her and blood pooled from his cut throat and the corners of his mouth. Squirrelflight refused to believe it. "S-Squirrelflight?" he weakly mewled.

 _"I said I would take everything I loved from you, didn't I?"_ Ashfur's cruel voice came from somewhere, though it felt like he was right beside her, breathing in her ear. _"I suppose I should've said that you would."_

* * *

 **Aaaaand there we have it after a near enough three month long hiatus. Due to college and then a family grievance I lost some interest in writing and now hopefully I'm back at it again and under a new name because I started to dislike the old one.**

 **Sorry for the long wait for this, but hopefully a nearly 3000 word oneshot should make up for it. The best part of this one, imo is that it deviates from the formula starting to emerge in these oneshots so it's a breath of fresh air and hopefully I'll be able to pump out some more oneshots that break the mould like this one!**


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